PSYC 201 - Research Methods and Statistics I

(3 credits)The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the process of carefully and ethically planning psychological research, as well as using descriptive and inferential statistics to analyze and interpret data. Students will learn how to properly conduct experiments and field experiments, write effective surveys, and accurately distinguish between quasi-experimental and correlational designs and results. Emphasis will be placed on understanding research variables, threats to internal validity, other basic research design issues, and critical reading of research articles. Hand calculation of descriptive statistics, supplemented by Excel and SPSS software instruction, will be required as students learn to apply basic statistical concepts in the context of studying human participants. An APA-style research proposal will be the final project for this course. Students are recommended to take Math 101 prior to enrolling in this course. Prerequisite: